COVID cases up 74 percent in Davis since Thanksgiving week
No area of Yolo County has seen a bigger increase in COVID-19 cases since Thanksgiving week than the city of Davis.
Over the last three weeks, the city’s total number of cases increased by 74 percent, going from 528 cases on Nov. 24 to 918 on Tuesday.
The increase in cases coincides with the expansion of asymptomatic testing in the city thanks to Healthy Davis Together.
That partnership between the city and UC Davis is offering free saliva-based testing to people who live or work in Davis, with testing available daily at two locations. Between Nov. 23 and Dec. 12, 7,395 tests were administered with 119 people testing positive, according to Dr. Sheri Belafsky, who is overseeing testing for Healthy Davis Together.
Healthy Davis Together expands COVID testing to skilled nursing facilities
The heavy toll that COVID-19 has taken on some of Yolo County’s oldest and most vulnerable residents continues, with cases and deaths mounting in skilled nursing facilities.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 51 nursing home residents and staff members have died of COVID-19, more than half of all the deaths that have occurred countywide.
On Monday alone, the county reported 72 more cases and two more deaths linked to outbreaks in Davis, Woodland and West Sacramento longterm care facilities.
Health officials have long linked nursing home outbreaks to overall community spread of the virus, with unsuspecting and often asymptomatic employees contracting the virus in the community and then bringing it into facilities.